Jack of All Trades
by LoliBat
Summary: "To spare the sands, the seas, the skies: I offer thee this silent sacrifice," Harry whispered. "I'm still waiting, Mavis… I'm still waiting for the courage to face my demons. I'll wait as long as I have to; I do have an eternity's worth of time, after all. I'll do as you asked and look after our guild." He smiled and looked up the emblem of Fairy Tail. Gen fic.
1. Do fairies have tails?

Prologue: Do fairies have tails?

Summary: "To spare the sands, the seas, the skies: I offer thee this silent sacrifice," Harry whispered. "I'm still waiting, Mavis… I'm still waiting for the courage to face my demons. I'll wait as long as I have to; I do have an eternity's worth of time, after all. I'll do as you asked and look after our guild." He smiled and looked up the emblem of Fairy Tail. Gen fic.

* * *

**X686**

"Mavis, are you sure this is alright?" a dark haired man asked. He tilted his head up and surveyed the impressive wooden structure before him. The multi-tiered structure stood proudly with a large shield bearing the emblem of a bird on the topmost tier. Vibrant green eyes crinkled in laughter as he gazed at the logo; if Cloud knew that his hairstyle had been the inspiration behind the design, the chocobo headed swordsman would surely kill him.

A dainty looking blond child looked back at the man. "Of course it is alright; it's perfect!" she grinned.

"Are you sure the roof doesn't need more wards for self-repair and protection?" the man asked doubtfully. "Knowing you guys, this place would be demolished in a week."

"But Harry, you've already inscribed runes and wards over just about every corner of the bar." Mavis pointed out.

"Besides, if anything gets broken, we can just have Walrod fix it," Precht said nonchalantly. Walrod nodded and gave a thumb up.

"I guess," Harry muttered with a sigh. "So, why did you name the guild Fairy Tail?" He asked Mavis.

"Well, why not?" She rebutted.

"Surely you of all people would know if fairies have tails." Harry said while gesturing towards her dress. "Of course, if you want an answer, we could just check…" he jokingly attempted to take a peek.

Mavis slapped him on the head and huffed in embarrassment, to Harry's amusement. "Well, trust Luna's descendant to come up with a name like Fairy Tail. I'm not surprised to know that she had Fae blood hidden in her." He mused.

"I never met her, you know," Mavis pointed out bluntly.

"You don't need to. You're so much like her I'd be blind to not notice." Harry said dryly. "Anyhow, you didn't answer my question. Does that mean you want me to check?" Harry asked slyly and began tickling her. She growled and tackled him to the ground.

As Mavis and Harry began tumbling around like children, peals of laughter from all four mages filled the air.

"Harry, you'll watch over the guild, right?" Mavis panted on the ground.

"Yeah." Harry replied, equally out of breath.

"Forever and ever?"

"Sure."

"I don't understand why you don't want to be Master, man." Precht said. "You'd be perfect for the job."

"Nah, the guild was Mavis' idea. I just came up with the logo." Harry shrugged. "Besides, I'm not quite ready to face my own demons yet, let alone all of you." He joked.

"You will be ready one day." Mavis said with absolute certainty. She laid her small hands on Harry's large ones. "Fairy Tail will help you face them."

"If you insist, Mavis." Harry smiled at the child.

"I do." She nodded. "Anyhow, let's find someone to take a picture for us!" Mavis grinned and leapt up.

"Give me some time, will you? I'm getting old." Harry jokingly rubbed his back.

* * *

**X781 **

"I'm still waiting, Mavis. It has been almost two millennia since I came to this world, and I'm still waiting." Harry said bitterly as he knelt in front of Mavis' grave. Tenrou Island was peaceful; in the slumbering forest, Mavis' grave laid hidden away from prying eyes.

With a quick _Orchideous_, Harry conjured a bouquet of forget-me-nots and laid them in front of the tombstone.

"Fairy Tail is doing well. I'm doing my best to watch over the guild, but Natsu's a handful; do you remember him? He's Igneel's kid. It seems like he inherited his old man's pyromaniac tendencies. He's as rowdy as they come, even more so if Gray's with him. Those two are quite a pair. Did I tell you? They demolished roof again last week; that's the third time this month. Thank goodness Erza's around to keep them from wrecking the place beyond repair. I know you told me to watch over the guild, but nowadays I'm more of a repairman than a guardian." Harry chuckled quietly. He knelt in silence for a long moment, enjoying the tranquility of the sunshine.

"Anyways, I should probably go before they blow up another wall." Harry got up and patted his pants.

"By the way, I was right. I should have put more runes on the roof." Harry rolled his eyes. "Sleep well, Mavis. I'll watch over Fairy Tail in your stead. This is what you wanted, right?" He laid a gentle hand on the gray slab of stone and turned away.

* * *

AN: Hey guys, it's me again. I know I said I was busy (and I am), but I got started on Fairy Tail and just couldn't stop reading. I ended up falling in love with the series and read the entire thing (all 350+ chapters) in about three days. Anyways, I have about a week left until final exams, and I can't stop thinking about this plot bunny (hence my need to write it down).

To my new readers: I'm Mandy, a busy med school student. I like to write stories when I have free time, but I don't have a regular update schedule because of how busy I usually am (as my old readers know, my average update rate is around one long chapter a year). English isn't my first language, so my grammar might be a bit off at times.

Estimated next update: probably around winter break. I'll have a week or two off, and I won't be doing anything schoolwork-related for the first two or three days.

Note 2: There won't be a lot of romance in this story, so pairings don't really matter. I'll mostly stick to the main pairings of the manga (I guess the biggest one is Jellal/Erza?), but I doubt I'd write anything more than a kiss. In case anyone noticed, yes, there will be mentions of characters from other series, but they won't be a part of the story. I'll try my best to write a good story and keep everyone in character.

Mandy


	2. Backstabbing bastards and proper revenge

Chapter 1: Backstabbing bastards and proper revenge

Harry sipped his coffee languidly as he skimmed over the daily news. Just another peaceful day in Magnolia, he thought; crime rates are very low in the hometown of Fairy Tail. Against even the weakest of mages, common thieves and burglars don't stand a chance, and Fairy Tail is the strongest in Fiore. While peace tends to lull into boredom with time, he did not mind the occasional calm morning. Harry's gaze flickered upwards when the dull clank of porcelain against wood met his ears.

"Thank you, Mira." He inclined his head and expertly began slathering jam onto the piping hot scone. The older-than-dirt immortal ignored Mira's silent laughter; for as long as he has been with Fairy Tail, he always took the same breakfast- a mug of coffee and a scone with jam.

The bartending mage was about to reply when the heavy oaken front doors of Fairy Tail slammed open with a loud bang; they dented the wall and barely managed to stay on their hinges.

Not surprised in the slightest, both adults kept hold of the objects in their hands. Well, so much for my quiet morning, Harry thought as he took a bite out of his scone.

"We're home!" A loud voice bellowed.

Harry casted a silent _sonorous_; he really didn't feel like tearing up his vocal cords this early in the morning. "Pipe down, Pipsqueak! If you break that door again, I'll make the next one out of your hide" He said nonchalantly. After a moment's pause, he smiled. "Welcome home." He said. He waved his hand lazily to dispel the amplifying charm. "So, which town did you demolish this time?" He asked sarcastically.

"Harujion." Natsu said, unconcerned, while sending a flying kick towards a member of the guild who had given him false information.

Harry ruffled his papers and nibbled on his scone. "Did you wreck the whole town? The bank? The major's house? A mansion?" Harry's observant gaze zeroed in on the newcomer from behind his newspaper. A young blonde- probably around Natsu's age- and a stellar spirit mage, judging by the keys she had clipped to her belt.

"Nope, just half of the port." Harry's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "We did catch some guy called Bora though. He was kidnapping girls and selling them as slaves."

"Bora… Nope- I've never heard of him. Which guild is he from?" Harry's temper calmed. At least Natsu has a reason for his brash actions- this time around anyways.

"Titan nose." Natsu shrugged without taking a break from mauling the poor man.

"Ah, that small guild from the south." Harry sipped his drink and contemplated the guild name. What is with Fiore and guild names with body parts involved? Fairy Tail, Grimore Heart, Lamina Scale… He was surprised someone hasn't named a guild after dragon heartstrings or unicorn tail feathers by this point. With ease, he ignored the Natsu-induced free-for-all brawl behind him and ducked a wayward plank.

"Natsu! Let's settle our fight from the other time!" Gray yell echoed from across the bar. The brunette sprinted towards the commotion with a war cry loud enough to wake the dead.

"Put some clothes on, Brat!" Harry tripped the teenager in his path with a meticulously placed foot and chucked one of Mirajane's frilly aprons at him. "And you guys had better not demolish the roof again, or else I'll tell Makarov to take you two off the active duty list for a month!" Harry threatened. Gray huffed and tossed the apron back at the man. However, Natsu soon dragged Gray away into yet another one of their legendary brawls, and the rolling ball of fists and kicks continued to demolish all the furniture in sight.

Harry sighed. Those unruly brats. At least they're not as destructive as Mira and Erza. Harry thought, shuddering. The guardian of the guild (and just about every other human being on this side of Earthland) was quite relieved when Mira and Erza mellowed out with age. In fact, if Harry was a more religious person, he would be burning incense weekly in gratitude. With kids like these, it was no wonder that Makarov yearns for retirement.

From her vantage point, Lucy collapsed on the ground without anyone noticing-or caring. Fairy Tail wasn't exactly what she had expected. The brawling aside, the members are certainly… odd. Natsu _eats_ fire, a dude unconsciously _strips_, a random woman drinks beer by the _barrel_, a womanizer wants to hit her up, and some guy hiding behind a newspaper is eating breakfast at _three in the afternoon_. What is with this guild?

"Are you alright?" Mirajane appeared from next to Harry and knelt by Lucy, instantly reviving her with a dose of much-needed sanity. Harry snorted quietly; Mirajane's sanity- right.

"You're Mirajane! The real one!" She gasped. Harry's fangirl radar instantly went off in his head, telling him to run for higher grounds. It was amazing that this part of his mind still functioned after so long.

"There's a fake?" Harry raised his eyebrow and put down his paper. Who would be stupid- and crazy- enough to fake _Mirajane_ of all people?

Lucy blushed indignantly at the question and gasped when she realized who was speaking. "You're Harry Potter, the jack of all trades! Everyone says never use the same magic twice in a fight!" she rattled off. Suddenly, she felt faint.

Harry blinked and exchanged a wry glance with Mirajane. "Well, it looks like you've memorized my biography." Harry said dryly. "Too bad I don't have one."

Lucy scowled at the eccentric man. "Shouldn't you guys stop this?" She gestured to the organized chaos behind her. "Natsu almost broke down the wall when we came in. How is this building still standing?" she asked incredulously.

"Nope. This is normal, the wall is just fine, and the brats should sort themselves out in ten minutes or so." To Lucy's surprise, the dent was nowhere to be seen. "The furniture's repair mechanism should kick in a couple minutes after that."

"The… " Lucy gaped. In her confusion she barely dodged a glass bottle which hit Mirajane in the forehead.

"I've got you now!" Natsu said triumphantly as he expertly snatched Gray's boxers away. Lucy's jaw dropped.

"I assume you like what you see?" Harry addressed Lucy, oddly calm for a man faced with a naked teenager. Lucy flushed crimson and ignored the man.

"Gods above." Harry muttered at the unresponsive blonde and rolled his eyes. "Gray! Put some goddamn clothes on!" He bellowed and tossed the boy some lacy lingerie that he snatched off of a nearby table. The bra hit Gray in the face with a surprising amount of force and knocked him to the ground.

"Hey! That's my bra!" Kana yelled from across the bar and raised a fist threateningly.

"You've got a million of those anyways!" Harry called back, ignoring the gesture.

"Natsu! If you're trying to get into Gray's pants, there's an empty room upstairs." Harry said cheekily, holding up the boy by the back of his scarf. The founder's statement had Natsu spitting fire- literally.

"How many times do I have to tell you? No fire in the house!" Harry patted his flaming clothes out with his free hand. In response, Natsu merely snorted flames out of his nostril, which prompted Harry to drop him. Unfortunately, his "drop" was more in line with a "fling", and he sent the poor boy tumbling through the floor boards and crashing through the wine cellar.

"Honestly…. Kids these days- such cheek." Harry tsked and dusted his hands.

Kana, who was still attempting to rescue her bra from a stark naked Gray, suddenly growled. "That's it. It's time to end this." She pulled out a deck of glowing cards.

"Magic?" Lucy gaped.

Great. Looks like I'll be repairing the roof again, Harry thought grumpily.

"Cut it out, you fools!" Makarov's voice boomed. He must have noticed the newcomer's fright, for he shrunk down to his normal size in an instant. The elderly man held out a stack of reports and read out the contents for each one. Harry listened with half a mind; it was always the same, really. Gray would run around streaking and get charged for indecent public exposure, Kana would drink out the entire town, and Natsu would demolish everything in sight and then some out of sight. The council will complain, then Makarov would tell the council to butt out as always, and the stuffy old geezers would collectively pop a vein.

"Is guess this is normal?" Lucy asked weakly.

"Only every other Tuesday." Harry shrugged in reply.

"Oi Makarov, is that it for this week?" Harry finished his breakfast and got up. "Seven houses, a mansion, half a port, and a castle?" He confirmed.

The old man nodded.

"I'll be heading out then." Harry summoned his backpack which came flying through the wall, much to Lucy's shock.

"Mirajane, where is Harry going?" she asked.

"Come back soon," the white haired beauty waved. "Harry always goes out to repair the damage that Natsu and the others cause when go out on missions. It's to keep Fairy Tail's expenditures low- otherwise we'd be bankrupt by now," she laughed. "Natsu always takes missions right after Harry leaves since Harry's never in a good mood when he returns."

Poor Lucy's brain short wired, and the girl blacked out from information overload.

* * *

"Reparo" Harry pointed towards the last of the houses. The pieces of the wrecked house flew back and reassembled in record time. The mage observed his work with a critical eye, making sure that everything was in place.

"Is this it?" Harry asked, annoyed at the constant complaints of property damage and arson. The owner of the house nodded dumbly.

It wasn't the magic that he minded, repetitive as it was. To be truthful, he could cast reparo in his sleep. It was the people; if he heard one more greedy home-owning swine try to swindle more "compensation" charges, he'd sent the pig through the wall. And then he'd repair the wall, of course, with the man still in it.

"If only they could see me now," Harry grumbled. "The freaking Man-Who-Lived being turned into a repair man." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. The unbearable complaints were back again, and this time they were twice as loud.

With a growl, he easily kicked an angry suit-wearing fat man through the nearest tree and apparated to the next location. A plant getting knocked down is fine. People getting sense knocked into them is even better.

* * *

"Natsu..." Harry growled as he slammed the doors open.

The pink haired boy jumped a foot and squeaked in fright. To his side, Gray discretely scooted away from him, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"Oh good, you're still here. I would have thought that you'd be gone on a mission by now." He grinned toothily. The suddenly sweat-drenched pinkette could only stare in fright. "Since you're not, let's go train." The grin sharpened. In a flash, he had Natsu up and running for the door. However, he was quicker than the dragon slayer and dragged Natsu away by his scarf, cackling ominously all the way.

"What the…" Lucy gaped from her position in front of the job board.

"Told 'ya Harry wouldn't be happy." A cigarette smoking man said and blew heart shaped rings towards the disgusted blond.

"He doesn't really like dealing with people; it puts him in a bad mood, you see." Mirajane said apologetically. "Despite his temper, he's a phenomenal teacher; his training resume is quite brutal, but it pays off well. Natsu might not realize it now, but he's actually quite lucky to receive training from Harry. He doesn't take on just anyone; he only trains those with the most potential to grow."

"Wait" Loki suddenly came sprinting back from the other end of the bar where he had gone to avoid Lucy's keys just moments before Harry entered the bar.

"Erza's back." He whispered. Immediately, Harry stopped cackling, and Natsu stopped struggling.

"You know, training sounds great!" Natsu was sweating bullets. Now he was the one trying to push an apathetic Harry into the training room.

Harry stood firmly without budging an inch as Natsu shoved against him with all his might. The kid might as well be shoving against a brick wall, Harry thought absentmindedly. "You're not getting out of this one that easily, Brat. And you're a thousand years too young to even think of moving me." He said in a matter-of-fact manner.

In fact, Gray and everyone else began sweating profusely as well; the nearly naked boy hastily retreated behind Harry, stuttering about training and magic.

"I'm back. Is the master here?" Erza said calmly as she set down a large demon horn down with a thump.

"No, he's in a regular meeting." Harry said, not the slightest bit unnerved. "Welcome home, Erza." He smiled. She nodded in thanks.

"Ah, I see. It's good to be back."

"A demon horn, I presume? Any species in particular?" Harry looked the horn up and down as if trying to categorize it.

"A souvenir from the monster I defeated," she shrugged. Harry noticed that some of the newer members paled several shades in fright.

"It can't be that powerful since it didn't trouble you in the slightest, but may I take a sample anyways?" Harry asked as he detached Gray and Natsu who were hanging onto his back like barnacles on a ship.

"Suit yourself" she said.

Having flung the two nuisances off, Harry pulled out his sword and languidly sliced off a large chunk of the horn.

At Lucy's inquiring gaze, Mirajane elaborated, "Harry's a bit of a pack rat. He collects just about everything he sees, but no one knows where he stores it all."

The immortal paid Erza no mind as she scolded the rest of the guild. He examined the consistency and mineral contents of the horn; Erza scolding everyone was a fairly normal sight at Fairy Tail, seeing how she was the big sister of the guild. Suddenly, all was quiet; now that, Harry thought, is abnormal. He shot Erza a glance. It seems like he missed her announcement; he will have to ask her about this later.

* * *

He caught her outside the bar on her way to her dorm that evening. "Erza, report." He said, his eyes humorless. She straightened and nodded. As one of the founders of the guild, he ranks directly below Makarov, and even that only in name. Thus, he had the right to command even respected members like Erza.

"Approximately two days ago, I overheard a conversation between two suspicious looking characters in a bar in Onibas. I suspect that they are associated with a dark guild, as they mentioned Eligor from the dark guild of Eisenwald. In particular, they had a gnarled black flute adorned with a skull in their possession and were bickering about breaking a seal. I decided that further investigation on their activities would be best, so I reported back." She said.

"Eligor? That shinigami reject?" Harry scoffed. Please, the boy wouldn't know real shinigami even if one stepped out of a Senkaimon in front of him. That fly would be a piece of cake to take care of. "I assume you're going to chase after him?" He asked.

The scarlet-haired woman nodded, adding that she would be taking Gray and Natsu with her.

"In that case, I'll meet you when you guys get off the train."

Erza raised an eyebrow in question.

"I have no doubt that you alone is more than enough to take down all of Eisenwald, but let's just say I'm getting bored. I haven't taken a mission in a long time." Harry grinned. He knew that Natsu had the odd talent of being able to start a brawl with anything within a five meter radius of him.

"What did he break this time?" Erza laughed lightly.

"Seven houses, a mansion, a castle, and half a port." Harry said dryly, having been the one to fix it all.

"What did _you_ break this time?" Erza asked teasingly.

"Nothing." He said innocently.

At Erza's unbelieving gaze, he added, "Three fat men, a cat, and an old lady stuck in a tree." He crossed his arms. "In my defense, the old lady wouldn't shut up about the cat, so I stuck her in a tree."

Erza sighed. Really, Natsu breaks structures without batting an eye, but Harry fixes objects and breaks _people_ instead.

"Fine." Erza nodded.

"I'll see you there then." He waved lazily at her and turned back to the bar.

* * *

"How hard is it to remember to wake up a pink-haired boy?" Harry asked doubtfully. "There are three of you; surely someone would have remembered."

All three juniors dutifully bowed their heads in shame.

Harry sighed and adjusted his glasses in annoyance. "Fine, let's just stop the train." He stalked up the nearest train operator. "Operator-san, please stop the train." He said bluntly.

"What? I can't stop the train!" He gasped and nearly dropped his loudspeaker.

"There's a violently ill patient on the train who is suffering from severe dehydration and dangerously low electrolyte levels. We did not realize his absence when we got off because he was passed out. This is an emergency situation." Harry explained without batting an eye.

"He's very good at lying, isn't he?" Lucy observed. Really, he was blowing this way out of proportions.

"Technically, he isn't lying." Erza rebutted. "Natsu's been vomiting non-stop."

"Until you knocked him out cold that is," Gray noted, also completely used to Harry's true-but-tall tales.

The operator visibly hesitated before stuttering "We can have a paramedic waiting at the next train station, but it's impossible to stop the train now, Sir."

"Look, if that boy dies, it's on your head." Harry growled, knowing full well that nothing short of the apocalypse would make Natsu kick the bucket. He crept ever closer to the emergency brake as he spoke. "On second thought, if he did die, it won't matter at all because you would have already lost your head." He yanked the brake down quickly. "See, aren't you glad he's not going to die?" Harry grinned winsomely as the poor man collapsed in fright.

* * *

"Natsu, you just had to come flying out of a train moving at maximum velocity, didn't you? Thank goodness both of you have hard heads." Harry waved his hand in an intricate pattern as he healed the rapidly bruising foreheads of both Natsu and Gray.

"You can heal?" Lucy gasped, her wide eyes focused on Harry's glowing palms. "That's a lost art!"

"It's not lost if someone finds it, Blondie." Harry said dryly. "And yes, I can heal. I am the "jack of all trades", remember?" He said sarcastically. Lucy blushed in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"It's Lucy!" She squawked, her face red.

"Sure, Blondie." He waved her indignation away.

"Erza, are you doing okay?" Harry called to the girl from inside the four-wheel drive.

"We can stop for a refill." She said and pulled over. "Besides, I think Natsu's going to pass out if we go any farther." True to Erza's word, the pinkette was pale as a sheet. Harry laid a glowing hand on Erza's forehead and ignored Natsu, who had nothing left to throw up at this point.

"He's replenishing her magic!" Lucy felt faint. She has never heard of an ability like this before.

"Oi, Battery Ji-san! Can I get a refill too?" Natsu jumped towards Harry, having miraculously recovered in the span a seconds. The man dodged Natsu's jumping attack with ease and poked Natsu in the forehead.

"Who are you calling a walking battery, Pipqueak?! Besides, your magic's almost full, and you're not the one driving. You don't need a refill."

* * *

"A skull with three eyes? That flute is the Lullaby! The magic of "death"!" Lucy gasped in revelation, clasping her shaking hands close to her heart.

"What?" Erza gasped, momentarily shocked.

"Anyone who hears it will get cursed with "death". The flute casts it." Lucy explained shakily.

"Death huh?" Harry asked, nonplussed. In the grand scheme of things, Lullaby is a fairly low ranked Zeref demon of little or no consequence to middle or higher tiered mages. If the shinigami rejects are doing what he thinks they want to do, then they're in for a disappointment. From what Mavis taught him of strategy, they could either be targeting civilians, or more likely they would be targeting the guild masters who are currently meeting at a location close by. "Where was that train heading?" Harry asked.

The children looked at each other before replying, "Oshibana."

Oshibana, huh? The dark guild could possibly be targeting the town, but since it too, was a fairly small time, the population is quite small. Once word gets out of their little stunt, legal guilds would be hunting them down in retribution; in a situation like this, the only advantage the half-baked guild had was surprise. If they had only one shot at this, wouldn't it make sense for them to try for maximum impact with the least amount of effort? Of course, that would mean a large city… Or perhaps the guild masters meeting in Clover, which was fairly close to Oshibana. As long as everyone who heard the melody get permanently silenced, then the perpetrators can continue to wreak havoc. Harry's mind compartmentalized and analyzed the information speedily from different angles. "Well then, there's your answer. There are two likely outcomes to this; let us do the more politically correct thing." Harry dusted off his pants. He had no doubt that the guild masters would take care of themselves- they are masters, after all- but even as a mere act of courage, they had to walk straight into the trap to "protect the innocent townsfolk".

"Huh?" They blinked at his explanation. Harry merely shook his head and smiled at their confusion.

Without further ado, the group raced off to the station.

* * *

"Eisenwald went all out, didn't they?" Gray nudged one of the passed out soldiers.

"And they still left bodies?" Harry scoffed morbidly and nudged one out of his way. "If _we_ truly went all out, I doubt there would be anything left to find."

Lucy looked uncomfortable at the statement, but then she remembered that Natsu primarily uses fire. What Harry said could very well be true. Speaking of which, Harry wasn't quite what she expected either. The man was blunt and borderline psychotic, but yet he is calm, collected, and cares a great deal for the guild and its members. In short, he was a walking contradiction with what could possibly be the most dangerous case multiple-personality disorder. If she truly knew the destructive power Harry was capable of, she might have felt pity for the poor fools.

The group walked into the station hall where all of Eisenwald was gathered in an unsightly mob.

"What do you intend to do? Depending on your answer, we may have to make you pay." Erza confronted them all menacingly, the ends of her hair standing up from the force of her leaking magic.

The delinquents mocked her with laugher. Suddenly, the temperature of the hall lowered a notch; Harry never stopped smiling.

"We've got no job to do; we're just really bored. Riddle me this: what do they have at a station?" Eligor grinned.

"You're going to broadcast the lullaby!" Erza gasped. Behind her, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy followed suit.

Harry on the other hand, just blinked owlishly and continued smiling.

"Go ahead," he said, nearly making the shinigami-reject fall out of the air from shock; clearly, the poor excuse of a human being did not notice his presence. Erza spun around in surprise at his statement. Harry held up a hand and a pair of wire clipping scissors. "I cut the audio wires of that thing and the one outside of the station." He said, gesturing to the tall pole-like loudspeaker in the hall. "Good luck on getting your plan to work," he grinned.

Lucy wondered where he got the scissors to begin with since they definitely weren't on his person ten minutes ago.

"It doesn't matter how many people are gathered around the station if the sound can't get out," Harry explained, showing his empty hands. To Lucy's curiosity, the scissors seem to have vanished into thin air.

"Gray, Natsu, go after Eligor", Erza commanded when the man leapt out of a window to escape moments later. "Lucy, Harry, and I will handle things here." She said, gesturing to the large crowd.

"Hey Erza, leave some for me, will you?" Harry grinned as his hands started glowing a menacing purple.

"Alarte Ascendare", Harry danced around his opponents. The light around his hands changed color; the moment the glow glanced over them, they were sent flying high into the air.

"Erza, those are for you." Harry laughed gleefully as he dodged a flailing punch from one fool and flung another one into the wall.

"You always did like to play around," she rolled her eyes and cut down the mages all at the same time.

"Bombarda maxima!" His glowing hands changed to a brilliant crimson as he danced and flipped around enemies, causing them to explode with every touch. He twisted and turned in midair, sending snaps of explosive magic towards the dark mages. The cat-like mage landed on the floor with a crouch and plowed through his enemies with a speed that left streaks of light and color trailing behind him. Lucy stood as blood and gore rained down from Erza and Harry's efforts. The green eyed man grinned happily amidst the explosions and snapped a particularly fat man's sternum with a sickening crunch. He only slowed down when he caught Lucy's horrified look.

"Oh fine… I'll keep everything PG for you, Lucy. You'll have to work on getting used to fights like this. Flipendo Duo. Glacius Duo." He had the gall to roll his eyes at the blond mage and punted one man straight through the roof and turned another into an ice sculpture. The frozen man had an expression of utter terror on his face.

He's playing with them, Lucy thought in amazement as she marveled at the grace, speed, and strength that the duo showed.

"This is too much trouble," Erza said blandly as her armor shifted.

"It's fun," Harry shrugged as he picked up another man by the collar of his shirt and tossed him into the crowd. "Strike!" he crowed, having knocked down all the men before him.

"Her armor's coming off!" The perverted pigs leered.

Harry snarled, his green eyes turning into slits. "And what do you think you're looking at, Pigs? Evanesco!" he shouted. Suddenly, the world went black for the previously delighted mages. In his anger, Harry vanished their retinas- all of them.

"Silencio, Levicorpus, Petrificus Totalus." Harry casted in order. "They're all yours, Erza," he waved easily he looked up at the petrified men hanging by their ankles.

"That was unnecessary," Erza said as she summoned her swords.

"You know how I am. Besides, you're going overboard as well," He said. "You're going to need a recharge after this. You should be careful; your body can't handle too much of my magic in one day."

"I know." She said as she sliced through the gathered Eisenwald members as easily as butter. Harry released them from the air as one, and they fell to the ground with a thud.

"Evanesco," Harry casually vanished the blood on the ground.

He's not even breathing heavily, Lucy thought in awe. It was a gruesome fight, but it was just as beautiful as it was gruesome; both of them were clean and efficient, fighting like true professionals- true mages.

"Sorry, Lucy. I tried keeping things PG, but they leered at Erza." Harry scowled. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Harry asked, holding out a hand. Lucy shook her head and took his hand.

"He's just over protective." Erza looked away.

"I have every right to be overprotective; I just about raised you." He said bluntly, much to the Fairy Queen's embarrassment. "Erza came to the guild as a child, so we took her in. I was already in the guild, so I looked after her." The' mage elaborated easily as he gestured for Erza to come to him for a refill of magic.

"We have to tell the guards outside," Erza said calmly once Harry was done.

"You go ahead and do that; I can stay to clean up," He surveyed the scene before him coldly, unconcerned about the bodies littering the floor. "I guess we could leave them intact as proof. I'll lay them out to the side. They're going to trip people over, lying there like that." Harry nodded as if it made perfect sense.

Lucy deadpanned. Lean, mean fighting machines or not, those two had the oddest sense of priorities.

* * *

Harry wiped away the sweat on his forehead as he surveyed the fruits of his efforts. The bodies were now cleared to the sides of the hall in two distinct piles.

"Lucy, you should close your mouth unless you want flies flying in," Harry noted, which snapped the dazed girl out of her shock. Her jaw locked with the distinct click of teeth against teeth.

Harry paid her no mind and began pacing around the hall in boredom. "Ah yes," he announced in a Eureka moment.

"I should probably send Makarov a message." He mused. "At this point, Progs probably wouldn't make it in time." Lucy absently wondered what a 'Progs' was.

"Expecto Petronum", Harry closed his eyes, focusing on the warm memories of Fawkes. He thought of the times when the firebird's song would grant him strength; of the times when he would run his hand through the bird's warm scarlet feathers; of the tears that the phoenix shed to heal those in need.

Lucy gasped and averted her eyes as bright white light emanated from the man's hand, as if he was holding a miniature sun. What insane magic, she thought. Yet the spelt felt warm- comforting, almost. Moments later, a magnificent silver phoenix appeared, hovering over Harry's raised hand.

"Hey old pal," He crooned to the Patronus. The apparition sang a warm note and rubbed his beak against Harry's hair. "I need to get a message to Makarov as soon as possible- he should be in the town of Clover; can you do that for me?" The bird nodded in affirmative, trilling out a note. "Tell him that there's a wind user named Eligor from Eisenwald heading his way. He has in possession a black flute that summons Lullaby, a low to mid-level Zeref demon that can cast death magic over the immediate area. Tell him to watch out, okay?"

Fawkes sang one more song before flapping his wings and disappearing in a fireball.

"Thanks, Fawkes." Harry said fondly as he watched the phoenix disappear.

"What was that?" Lucy stuttered. "And what do you mean Eligor's heading towards the masters?"

"That would be the Patronus Charm. It uses happy memories to create a protective guardian of light that drives away all evil. Patronuses also make excellent messengers since they don't take damage, and they don't get exhausted easily." Harry explained.

"As for the message-" Harry began before his eye caught a flash of red behind Lucy.

"Erza? What happened? Your arm is injured." Harry moved to heal her arm immediately, but Erza shook her head.

"We don't have time for that now. Eligor trapped us here on purpose. He's planning something." She said urgently.

"Well then, I'm sure someone's still alive." Harry pointed towards the two piles of bodies. "I'll start on the pile on the right, but I'm almost a hundred percent sure of what is going on. If my suspicions are correct, then I'm glad I went ahead and sent a messenger to Makarov while you were gone."

Erza frowned but did not ask; instead, she went towards the pile on the left and began interrogating the cannon fodder.

"Talk!" She commanded as she shook the nearest man awake. "What does Eligor plan to do?" She snarled.

"I don't know," the slobbering man stuttered. Erza shook him by the collar again.

"How can we get rid of the barrier of wind?" She said harshly.

"You can't!" The man affirmed in fear. "There's no way you can nullify the magic." At this unsatisfactory response, Erza dropped him back to the ground. She looked up to find Gray, who was surprisingly not naked.

"Gray?" She asked. "Aren't you supposed to be with Natsu?"

"I lost him-I mean, there's no time for that!" He corrected himself. "The true target of Eligor's plan is the town ahead!" He yelled from the second floor.

"I see… So I was right." Harry too, dropped his target. "I thought he might pull something like that. Any decent mage worth his salt would be able to guard against low level death magic like Lullaby. In fact, if you guys heard the Lullaby, none of you would die- you might feel physically ill, but your internal magic is strong enough to nullify the effects. Given Eligor's arrogance, he probably forgot to take that into account. The greatest strength he has now is the element of surprise. He won't accomplish anything by merely killing civilians; it would just result in a large bounty placed on the entire guild." Harry elaborated.

"So I thought, what use could he have for a flute like this? That was when I realized that Clover is the closest town to this train station; for a wind user like him, crossing the distance would be a piece of cake. If he could take out the guild masters with the Lullaby, then he would effectively get the maximum effects with the least amount of effort. If he truly did want to kill civilians, he could do so later. Thus, I went ahead and sent a message to the masters."

Erza and Gray nodded in contemplation. "Are you sure the message will reach them in time?" Erza asked.

Harry nodded in reply. "I summoned a phoenix; the message should already be delivered."

"You summoned a…?" Erza blinked in surprise and refrained from questioning him further.

"Phoenix," Harry finished. "Anyhow, we're not in a rush to nullify the barrier, but it would be nice to get out of this place before next week. I sensed a nullifier in the hall earlier, but the presence is gone now. He was probably the one to break the seal on the Lullaby." Harry deduced.

"Since he's not in here," Erza began.

"I didn't find a nullifier either" Gray chimed in.

"Then that means he's probably with Natsu." Harry finished. "Two people left after Eligor did, right? Some pineapple haired prick and a reject clown."

"That's not the way I would put it, but yes." Lucy muttered.

"Then let's go find Natsu. All we have to do is follow the explosions. And this time we can just blame everything on the bad guys," Harry said merrily.

* * *

"I can heal him, but he will be unconscious for at least half an hour if not more afterwards. He did just take a knife to the chest," Harry said robotically, keeping most of his focus on the man on the ground. His hands pulsed once more before fading completely. "There, he should be in stable condition now. We just have to wait for his body to take up the treatment."

"Great- what do we do now?" Gray grumbled as he watched Natsu charge headfirst into the wind barrier.

"Erza, you tried flying to the top already?" Harry questioned. The armored mage nodded.

"I can try dispelling the barrier, but I doubt it would work; I can negate some magic, but I'm not a nullifier. From the sounds of it, Eligor used his magic to form the wind barrier, but given the nature of wind, his work is self-sustaining. That means he's only using his magic to keep the wind in one place; the longer we wait, the stronger the wind barrier will be since air is constantly drawn into it. If I were to try dispelling it now, the wind would turn into a tornado." Harry frowned.

"I could try to use lightening to burn a hole through the barrier, but the gap would just seal up within the blink of an eye. Trying to freeze the wind would merely generate a snowstorm at best… The speed of the wind makes it impossible for the large ice crystals to form. The only way out would probably be underground. " He deduced.

Natsu growled deeply, frustrated by the lack of progress. He threw himself against the barrier again and again, hoping to break it by sheer will alone.

"Natsu! Would you stop doing that?" Harry berated exasperatedly and moved to help Lucy with restraining the redhead. "That's not going to do anything except wear you down."

Breathing heavily, Lucy marveled at the intelligence and ability the immortal showed even in a dire situation like this; his casual use of many different types of magic- light, ice, fire, and now lightening and earth was nothing short of amazing. She sighed wistfully; everyone in Fairy Tail are so strong- how could she possibly compare?

"Lucy! We can move through the spirit realm!" Natsu said excitedly. "We can do what we did at Everlue's mansion. Remember?"

"That's not possible!" Lucy insisted. "Normal people would die from that! You can't breathe there, and the gate only opens for the Stellar Spirit Mage."

"Natsu's not exactly normal, Lucy," Harry pointed out. "Besides, nothing is impossible if you put your mind up to it. I _think_ I can keep you guys alive without oxygen for a couple of minutes, but that's going to take a lot of delicate spell work."

"He doesn't need any encouragement, Harry." Gray said dryly and crossed his arms. "Is there really no alternative to this?"

Just then, Happy pulled out a key- the answer to Lucy's prayers.

"Ah, Lucy! I remembered!" Happy screamed, startling everyone. "Virgo asked me to give this to you!" The Exceed held up Virgo's golden key.

Harry raised an eyebrow. So Everlue had Virgo's key; that explains the numerous tunnels he had to repair.

"We really don't have time to waste on this," Gray said, glancing at Kageyama's pale face.

"Calm down, Gray." Harry said firmly while clasping Gray's shoulder. "Calm down and think. The masters will be fine; they are masters for a reason, and I doubt any of them are weak. They can handle themselves, especially since they know Eligor's heading towards them."

"Virgo can dig holes in the ground; we can escape the magical barrier by digging under it." Happy insisted.

Nodding, Lucy summoned Virgo. "Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!" she called.

As summoned, Virgo's lithe form appeared from underground and bowed. "You called, Master?" Lucy's jaw dropped in shock.

Harry bit back a laugh. So _Virgo_ was the gorilla maid Natsu was complaining about. Stellar spirits are strongly influenced by the demeanor of their contractors. As spirits, they are given form, but they are stars nonetheless. Their powers and personalities fluctuate depending on their summoner's capabilities.

"Anyways, we don't have time." Lucy finalized her contract quickly and asked Virgo to dig a hole around the wind.

"If you would please, Virgo." Harry smiled kindly at the spirit. Her gaze lingered on him for a long moment before disappearing underground.

"Well then, ladies first." Harry gestured to Erza and Lucy. Just as Gray was about to jump in after them, he paused.

"What are you doing?" He said, pointing to Natsu, who had Kageyama on his back.

"Letting him die after I fought him will leave a bad taste in my mouth." Natsu explained.

Harry sighed impatiently. "You are really too kind for your own good, Natsu. Mobilicorpus," he casted, pointing towards Kageyama's prone body. It levitated instantly. "Go," he shooed Natsu and Gray.

"You're kind, Natsu, but some people are just better off dead." He said darkly once Natsu's pink hair disappeared from his sight. He levitated the body behind him and jumped in after the pinkette.

* * *

"Erza!" Harry called. "I'll drive. My magic is hardly depleted; yours is half gone already."

She hesitated before nodding and throwing him the keys. He caught them swiftly and climbed into the driver's seat of the mobile. After hearing Harry's statement, Lucy blanched. His magic is still full after all that? No way! She thought fervently.

"Geez, that Natsu. Brash as always. Don't forget to put on your seat belts," Harry grinned roguishly as he started the ignition and pumped the gas pedals. "I'm going to drive at max speed since Natsu's not here to fill the car with projectile vomit. Try to keep all your body parts in the car, okay?"

Lucy couldn't have buckled her seat belt faster if she had tried. Harry, true to his word, hit the accelerator and sped off, Lucy's terrified screams trailing behind him.

* * *

"The wind is changing directions…" Harry narrowed his eyes in thought.

"What?" Erza asked, holding Kageyama in place as Harry's reckless driving reached a new height.

"The wind- before, it was blowing towards us quite strongly. Now it is blowing from behind us with even greater force. A sudden change like this is not natural."

"Could it be Natsu's doing?" Lucy asked weakly as she struggled to keep her lunch down. "Harry, slow down!" She pleaded.

"If it is, we should speed up instead of slow down." He said and pushed down harshly on the accelerator. "I never did get my driver's license." The man mused.

"Such potent magic…" Kageyama winced as a bump in the road jostled his wounds.

"Harry isn't even winded," Erza smirked. "It takes a lot of magic to operate a vehicle, let alone drive at such a high speed."

"The faster we go, the more likely we'll catch Natsu's fight before he pummels the man into next week." Harry unconsciously hit the accelerator again.

"There's no way… He can't beat Eligor." Kageyama mentally screamed for the man to slow down.

"Oh ye of such little faith," Harry mocked. "If you weren't such a stereotypical back-stabbing villain, I would consider opening a betting pool."

The black haired man had the gall to look offended.

* * *

The group arrived just in time to see Eligor fall head first into the railroad tracks. Harry hurriedly stopped the car before rushing towards Natsu. Gray and Erza followed suit while Lucy knelt on the ground and retched.

"That was completely and utterly reckless." He growled and cuffed the Dragon Slayer's head. "Don't do that again." Harry picked up Natsu's discarded vest.

"Why did you strip?" He asked skeptically. "Did Gray rub off on you?"

"Hey!" Gray rebutted indignantly.

"It's true. If you want to blame someone, blame Ur." Harry shrugged.

"I see you're done with the clean up," Harry said to Natsu. "It's a shame I didn't get here fast enough to get a sample of the wind. I can probably still get the magical residue though," he mumbled.

"I can't believe Eligor-san lost" Kageyama gaped.

"I told you Natsu would win," Harry said cockily. His attention moved to Gray and Natsu, who were bickering once again. Now that no one was in immediate danger, Erza stopped to support Lucy, who was still weak with motion sickness.

"So you could barely defeat this weakling?" Gray taunted with his arms crossed. Unsurprisingly, his shirt was once again missing.

"Barely? It was an overwhelming victory!" Natsu retorted.

"Regardless, you look like a pervert with just a scarf on your half-naked body." Gray looked in disapproval.

"I don't want to hear that from you," Natsu grimaced. "Lucy, lend me your clothes," the boy requested tactlessly, much to Lucy's anger.

Harry laughed and moved to placate the arguing duo. It seemed like just yesterday when those two had their first argument.

"Anyways, since we're already here, let's report to the masters." Harry shrugged.

In that crucial moment, Kage leaped for the flute and stole the four wheeled drive with a well placed shadow attack.

"You fools! You let your guard down. I've got the Lullaby now!" He cackled triumphantly as he raced away.

"Natsu, I've told you before; some people were better off dead. I think he took the backstabbing comment a bit too close to heart." Harry observed. "Anyways, we really don't have time for this."

Without any warning, he grabbed all four mages in a tight hug.

"What-?" Lucy began; she felt safe in the tightness of the embrace. Well, until Harry literally teleported them to Clover.

Suddenly, the hug felt less than friendly. She did not know what was happening, but she felt compressed and claustrophobic; she couldn't breathe. Just as she was about to scream, she suddenly found herself on solid ground with a loud pop.

* * *

"What was that?" Lucy said in between deep breaths.

"That would be the worst form of magic transport ever known to mankind." Harry replied, looking green in the face himself.

"You couldn't have done this sooner because…?" Gray knelt on all fours and tried to regain his bearings.

"While it may feel like teleportation, it's not. Rather, what it does is drag you from one place to another at high speeds. That pop you just heard meant that you broke the sound barrier. If I tried to apparate you guys out while inside Eligor's barrier, then all of us would have been shredded to pieces. Speaking of which, I assume everyone kept all their body parts?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy gasped and hastily checked her body.

"Another danger associated with Apparation is splinching; you could have lost a limb or two." Harry shrugged. "Dragging along this many people takes a lot of concentration and control on my part."

Erza grimaced. Harry really didn't have the right to call Natsu reckless.

"The master!" Erza suddenly gasped and spun around. Indeed, Makarov was standing next to Kageyama, waiting for him to play the Lullaby. Gray, Lucy, and Natsu tensed, prepared to leap into combat.

"Shhh!" An oddly feminine voice shushed them from behind, startling the Fairy Tail members.

"We're just getting to the good part. Just watch. You all are just so cute! Totally my type!" The winged bald man sneaked closer to Natsu and Gray, freaking them both out.

"Who is that?" Lucy asked as she hid behind Erza.

"That would be Master Bob from Blue Pegasus." Erza answered, sweatdropping.

"Erza-chan, you're all grown up!" Bob crooned.

"He's the master of Blue Pegasus?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"Yo, Bob!" Harry greeted the man casually. He tried to ignore the two shaking teenagers hiding behind him.

"Harry-kun! It has been too long!" Bob sashayed over to the unperturbed immortal, much to Natsu and Gray's displeasure.

"I trust Makarov is handling things?" He asked, pointing towards Kageyama and the elderly man.

"He's going to blow the flute!" Erza, Gray, and Natsu shouted, leaping into action.

Rather than replying to Harry's inquiry, Bob held Gray and Natsu in headlocks, stopping them in their tracks.

"Like we said, just stay quiet. We're getting to the interesting part." The master of Quatro Cerberus suddenly appeared from behind a tree.

"Gold mine! How have you been?" Harry laughed, leaving Natsu and Gray to Bob's tender mercy.

How can that man be so carefree in a situation like this…? Lucy thought.

Barely a minute later, Kageyama dropped the flute weakly and knelt on the ground, acknowledging the futility of his actions.

As a group, the young mages raced to their master; Harry followed at a more sedated pace.

"The one who let down his guard is you," Harry said to the fallen Kageyama. He ignored the commotion in front of him, choosing instead to focus his attentions on the bandaged man. "I knew Eligor would pull something like this, so I sent a message to the masters before we even left the train station. You lost before you even began."

"No way…" Kageyama gasped.

"This is the power of a guild; a guild that treasures each and every one of its members. It's precisely because we care for each other that we are able to stand up and fight time after time. We fight not for ourselves, but for others. That is what true strength means." Harry looked upwards at the starry skies.

Without warning, Lullaby suddenly began to smoke ominously.

"You are weak- all of you!" a dark voice boomed.

"Oh? It seems like the demon wants to play." Harry noted as a purple magic circle appeared in the sky.

"Oh my," Bob covered his mouth daintily.

"So this is the demon from the Book of Zeref," Gold mine crossed his arms, appearing unconcerned.

"Yup. It's not a strong one though," Harry replied as he craned his head up to get a good look at the creature.

"Why did the flute turn into that demon?" Lucy asked fearfully.

"The flute is the demon; in other words, it's living magic. That's Zeref's magic." Gold Mine elaborated.

"Which means Zeref isn't dead." Harry finished and pulled out a sword. "Since it's living magic, Lullaby is anchored to Zeref himself. He is fueled by Zeref's magical power; if Zeref died, then he would too. As far as I know, Zeref never died."

"But that's impossible!" Lucy said emphatically.

"Nothing is impossible, Lucy." Harry replied calmly.

"So then, which soul shall I devour first?" Lullaby crouched over them.

"Are souls tasty?" Natsu asked Gray offhandedly.

"How should I know?" The ice mage growled.

"They aren't," Harry said with absolute certainty as he brandished his sword in front of the demon.

"I've decided. I'm going to eat all of your souls!" Lullaby declared.

"I'm sorry, but this soul is too tough for you to digest!" Harry dashed forward and sliced off Lullaby's leg at the hip joint.

"You bastard!" The demon screamed. It lashed out at Harry in pain.

"I'll be taking this as a souvenir." Harry said happily as a black hole appeared in front of his outstretched palm and sucked the leg in; the fallen limb disappeared with what seemed to be a burp.

"Harry, watch out!" Lucy screamed from the side lines.

"No worries," he said as he dodged the offending hand. With a swipe of his sword, he chopped off another one of Lullaby's limbs.

"Let's go!" Erza commanded as the trio rushed forth with their attacks.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray smashed his fist to his palm, turning his magic into sharp ice lances.

"Knight!" Erza requipped her armor and slashed Lullaby in the chest.

"Iron First of the Flame Dragon!" Natsu shouted and delivered a fiery punch to the flute demon.

Unfortunately, their magic merely served to infuriate the demon, and it began playing a noxious melody.

"What is that sound?" Lucy gasped.

"That's the Lullaby. Death magic is actually a specialty of Zeref's. If you ever meet him, you'll see that everything in his immediate vicinity dies- be it plants, animals, or people. He doesn't have very good control over his magic," Harry noted.

"You sound like you've met him," Lucy eyed the man wearily.

"Didn't you just say that it was impossible?" Harry answered evenly. "Anyhow, you don't need to cover your ears. Death magic at this level isn't enough to kill you."

Lucy slowly lowered her hands; she saw that none of the masters looked particularly worried.

"Oi Natsu! Leave some fire for me!" Harry cupped his hands and yelled from behind Gray's ice shield.

Harry dodged his way out of Gray's shield easily and casted a red spell. "Accio fire!" He directed a tendril of Lullaby's fire towards his hand. It coiled sedately in his palm and disappeared moments later.

"I'm truly lucky to have obtained so many samples today," the man said cheerfully as if he didn't just defy the laws of nature.

"Youngsters these days are so energetic," Harry observed with one hand raised to his brow as Natsu's enormous fireball broke through Lullaby's Living Magic seal. "But they've still got a lot more to learn," He said, casting a spell once more.

"Mobilicorpus," he pointed towards the falling body of the demon. "Now kids, destruction in the name of your guild is all good, but do try to minimize the collateral damage while you go about it." He lectured as he levitated the body to the forest nearby. He discretely slipped Lullaby's cracked flute into his sleeve while everyone was focused on Fairy Tail's prowess.

"They defeated Zeref's demon so easily," Gold mine grumbled.

"Ah, for all its size, it was barely even a B-class demon," Harry said humbly.

"How about that? Incredible, right?" Makarov bragged happily in front of the other guild masters. Harry sighed.

"Well, I'm not really too clear on the details, but I guess we all owe Fairy Tail one, yeah?" The Quatro Cerberus master mused.

"I'll take you up on that favor one day," Harry nodded happily as he extracted a suffocating Kageyama from Bob's grasp.

"There's no need for him to go to the hospital; I can heal him," Harry said as his hands glowed a soothing green. While he managed to stop Lullaby from demolishing the meeting hall, the demon's blows collapsed several mountains. The destruction was enough to send Makarov's soul skywards, which resulted in the three demon-slaying mages chasing after it in a comical manner.

"Kids take after their parents, right?" Gold Mine laughed.

"You have no idea," Harry muttered. He lost count of the number of times he had to stop Igneel from causing volcanic eruptions because he was "hungry". Ur too, was no slacker. Harry winced as he remembered how the violent woman had fractured his hip when she punted him into the sky for "peaking". It really wasn't his fault that the woman liked to strip.

"It reminds me of our active days," Bob reminisced.

"Does it?" Harry choked back a laugh. He was not the only one to celebrate the day when Bob declared that he was too fat to fly anymore.

"You looked just like I did when I was young, Kage-kun," Bob sang, much to Kage's eternal shock. "Kage-chin, Kage-chin, you're just like me!"

"Like the hell I am!" The traumatized man screamed back. How on Earth did that polished-looking man turn into… that?!

"You know, I think Kage-kun over here deserves a second chance," Harry grinned evilly. "So how about it, Bob? You told me before that your guild could use a nullifier. Kage here was the one who broke Lullaby's seal."

"Oh, my! Did he?" Bob gasped.

"Yes he did. He can also use shadows to hide and attack. So, how about it, Bob?" Harry pitched the sale to the interested Blue Pegasus master.

"I think my boys will be so happy to have a new brother!" Bob declared and hugged a suddenly soulless Kage.

Harry laughed silently. How's that for payback? He couldn't wait for the backstabbing idiot to meet Ichiya, that crackpot old fool.

* * *

Omake One: Leo

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Elicia-chan." Loki cooed to a giggling buxom blond.

It was a dark night, one without any moonlight; while Magnolia is a very safe city, the gentleman in him simply would not allow him to let a lady walk home in the dark. Of course, since he had more than one lady hanging on his arm, which meant he had to walk them all home.

Now that he had no one watching him, Loki let his faux enthusiasm drop. He sighed wearily and ran a tired hand through his hair. He stared at the hand for a long minute before flexing it; he could feel it now. His hands are cold and numb; would this finally be the end? Would he finally fade? He felt like laughing even though he was at death's door. Would he ever get to see Aries again?

"Leo," a calm voice said from behind him. Startled, the lion zodiac jumped in the air and spun around.

"Who's there?" He growled, shifting seamlessly into a martial arts stance.

"No one important." The voice seemed to shrug; a lithe male figure emerged from a dark alley.

"You," he gasped breathlessly.

"Me," the brunette said.

"How long have you known?" Loki asked, his heart hammering in his chest.

"I knew since the day I first saw you," the man said nonchalantly. "I remembered you from… back then."

"How are you still alive, Harry?" Loki asked incredulously. "And here I thought you were your own child," he chuckled.

"I didn't intend to be immortal, you know. It just sort of happened." Harry admitted bitterly.

Loki raised an eyebrow. This man obtained one of the most coveted treasures into the world by sheer accident.

"Harry, I'm so tired," he admitted, staring at his slightly transparent hands. "I'm just so tired."

Harry looked at him with sad green eyes. "You can't keep going like this, Leo." He held Loki's cold hands in his warm ones.

"Don't call me that. I'm not Leo anymore; I'm just Loki." The spirit looked away, ashamed.

"You'll always be Leo to me," Harry said.

"I have no right to call myself a spirit- not after what I did." Loki said, the pain in his voice evident.

Then Harry did something that Loki never thought he would do- he snorted. "You did nothing wrong. Karen had no right to call herself a summoner of anything." Harry said vehemently. "I never should have passed on your key. If I had not done so, then none of this would have happened; the fault is mine." Harry said sadly.

Loki stayed silent. He twitched when he felt familiar potent magic flow through his hands. "Harry, what are you doing?" Loki struggled and tried to snatch his hands from Harry's unyielding iron grasp.

"I'm saving you," Harry affirmed as he pumped even more magic into the spirit.

"No," Loki gasped. "No, just let me die!" He screamed in anguish. "Just let me die."

"No," Harry echoed. "Leo, how can I just let you die like this? I may not be your summoner anymore, but I refuse to let you die unjustly."

Loki growled menacingly, his wild eyes turning to slits.

"Do you even realize what you will be leaving behind? Aries is under a master who is even worse than Karen; so are Gemini and Scorpio. Capricorn is practically being enslaved by his. Are you just going to let them rot?" Harry asked.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Loki cried. "What else can I do?"

"All that I ask is that you live. Live, Leo. The one you have been waiting for- the one all of you have been waiting for- is here. She will gather all twelve of you and unlock the Holy Four." Harry continued channeling his magic into Leo, mixing a small amount of his life force.

"It's Lucy, isn't it?" Loki asked quietly and discretely tried to free his hands.

"Yeah." Harry's grip did not budge in the slightest.

"God damnit- let me go!" Loki yelled.

"Not if you're still dead set on dying," Harry insisted just as forcefully.

"You'll die of magical exhaustion like this, Harry. I'm a constellation; you can't possibly fill up my magical reserves." Loki said.

"If there's one thing I have a lot of, it's magic. You're the only person out of Fairy Tail who can handle channeling my magic at full force. Normal people would have died by now; my magic is too potent." Harry shrugged. "I could do this all day every day for a year and not die." He said ruefully.

"You're mixing in your life force," Loki accused.

"I can't die. What use do I have for life force?" Harry reasoned. Who was Loki to argue with logic like that?

"Let go," Loki said weakly.

"No. Live, Leo. Please." Harry said softly.

"I can't. I have no more reason to live; I killed my summoner." He looked away.

"If you don't have a reason, then find one. I'm not your rightful owner, but I can be your temporary summoner if I must. With my magic, I can possibly force the Celestial Gates open for you," Harry mused. "Old Man Moustache wouldn't be too happy with me though."

Loki laughed weakly. "I may be indisposed, but I still have my pride; I'll take my punishments."

"You and your thrice-damned pride," Harry rolled his eyes. With one last pulse of white-hot magic, Harry let go of Loki's hands. The constellation quickly shoved them into his pockets, hiding the fact that his hands were shaking.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then," Harry laid a hand on the lion spirit's shoulder.

"Yeah," Loki said, trying to ignore the fact that he felt alive for the first time in years. Harry's magic was potent indeed; the rush he felt was incredible.

Harry sent him a smile and walked away towards the guild.

"You know, I won't accept her just because of what you said," Loki called out.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Harry replied and waved his hand lazily.

* * *

Omake Two: Lucy's training

Lucy sighed as she relaxed in her warm bath; it has been a long, long day. The mission today took up a lot of her magical powers, and she was glad that she didn't have any unwelcomed houseguests for once.

What's that sound…? Lucy thought sleepily. That ringing- is that what my doorbell sounds like? She thought tiredly.

It took three more rings for Lucy to process her thoughts; she bolted up and hurriedly began to dry off.

"I'm coming!" She yelled, hoping that her voice would reach the front door; it did and the ringing stopped. Muttering a curse under her breath, Lucy hurriedly slipped on a night dress and a bathrobe.

She briefly tripped over an upturned slipper before reaching the doorknob.

"I'm sorry, what-" She began.

"Yo, Lucy. I'm guessing I caught you at a bad time?" Harry said sheepishly. He adjusted a large covered basket on his hip.

"Harry!" Lucy exclaimed. "Why are you here?"

"I heard from Mira and Erza that you found an apartment around town. I thought I'd drop by to see how you were settling in. Here, this is for you." Harry said and passed Lucy the basket.

Minding her manners, Lucy directed Harry to enter and apologized for the wait. "I'm sorry for the wait; I'm not too used to people using the doorbell," she said.

Harry looked at her oddly. "So you were assuming that I would break into your appartment?" Harry teased. "I assure you, I don't have a criminal record."

Lucy blushed a bright crimson and muttered something about Gray and Natsu, prompting Harry to laugh.

"So that's what happened. Don't mind those boys; they were raised in… odd circumstances," Harry snorted.

"How are you settling in, Lucy?" He asked and took a seat on the couch.

"I'm doing well, I guess. The rent is a bit expensive, so I take on a couple of part time jobs to make the ends meet." Lucy disappeared into the kitchen and reemerged with a plate of cookies and two mugs of tea.

"Thanks," Harry said, sipping the hot beverage. "Some of the guild members do the same thing. You could try doing more than one posting a day or take one of the higher paying ones."

At Harry's suggestion, Lucy set down her mug of tea and looked away.

"What's wrong?" Harry said, picking up on the sudden change in mood.

"Nothing," Lucy said hurriedly, fingering the guild tattoo on her hand nervously.

Harry sent her a clearly unbelieving look, but did not push for an answer.

"Well, it's just that everyone in the guild is so strong," she began, embarrassed by her confession.

"Ah," Harry said in understanding. "Well, they certainly weren't born that way."

Lucy looked up in confusion.

"You may not know this, but a number of Fairy Tail members are actually orphans who found this guild at a young age. A lot of them have had hard lives; they learn to use magic and to fight in order to protect what family they have to call their own." Harry nibbled on a cookie.

"I see," Lucy said.

"I'm assuming Natsu has told you about his quest to find Igneel?" Harry mentioned. He continued his earlier statement at Lucy's nod. "Igneel was the closest thing Natsu had to a father; both of his biological parents are dead. Igneel disappeared one day, and Natsu has been looking for him ever since. Both Gray and Erza are orphans as well, though through different circumstances. All of them have been training their magic from a young age."

"I never knew," Lucy said quietly.

Harry shrugged; "It's really not something they like to talk about. Even now, they consistently train to improve their abilities. Very few people in this world are born strong, Lucy. Everyone works hard. You might have had a late start- assuming you came from a well-to-do civilian family, but you can still catch up. You might be weak now, but that does not mean you have to stay weak. Stellar spirits are quite powerful when used correctly." Harry finished.

Lucy felt a strange stabbing when he said she was weak; however, determination lit in her eyes.

"How would I go about getting stronger?" She asked.

"Well, the first thing you should do is find your weaknesses" Harry mused. "You're a smart girl."

Lucy frowned in thought and tried to pinpoint her weaknesses. Harry waited patiently for her to reply. When none came, he continued.

"Have you ever noticed that you don't move much in the battlefield?"

Lucy blinked. What does moving have to do with anything? She thought. Surely he would pick something obvious, like not having enough magic.

"So, once you summon a spirit, you expect it to attack, right?" Harry asked, stating the obvious. Lucy nodded.

"If you were the opponent, would you rather aim your attacks at a weak opponent or a strong one?"

"The weak one," she replied.

"Well, there's your answer. Your spirits are ancient and powerful; their powers are celestial in origin. However, you on the other hand, are not. You are the connection between the spirits and their realm. If anything happened to you, your spirits would either move to defend you or vanish altogether. If I had to take down a stellar spirit mage, I would go for the mage and distract the spirit. Certainly, if the spirit is powerful enough- say Aquarius or Taurus- I might have to go through the spirit first, but I would at least try." Harry gestured.

"But don't look so down," Harry said to placate the despondent girl. "Just about every spirit mage I've fought against had that weakness. Now that you know about the weakness, try to fix it."

"How am I supposed to fix this? Knowing this weakness of mine means nothing if I can't do anything about it," Lucy frowned. "There's no way I can match my spirits in strength."

"You don't have to," Harry argued. "If you can't master a martial arts form or wield a weapon for now, learn to dodge. While you focus on defense, your spirits can handle the offense."

Harry looked at the troubled girl and sighed.

"Lucy, no one here expects you to be perfect. There are no standards but the ones you set for yourself. If you want to be taught something, just ask. If you want a trainer or a sparring partner, there are plenty of people who would be willing to help out. You're part of the family now. If it makes you feel any better, I have been picking out Erza's weak points for the past eight years now," Harry chuckled. "But you know what? She has fixed every single one that I pointed out."

"Anyways, give the matter some thought. Just remember, you're not alone. You're strong in your own way, and I know you have the potential to be stronger" Harry smiled and got up.

Lucy too, got up and led her guest to the door.

"Harry, thank you." Lucy said. The man turned around and smirked.

"You're welcome." He stepped out into the cool night air. He saw in her eyes an incredible will to be great- a burning determination to be the best.

"You will be great, Lucy Heartfilia. I will make sure of it." He uttered to the stars.

* * *

Mandy: Well, that's one chapter done. I managed to hammer this out since I'm on winter break. I wrote Harry the way I did to show that he's not one of those Edward Cullen-ish "I'm immortal, so I'm just going to waste my immortality by brooding away" characters. Yes, he has shown knowledge of a lot of magic, but Harry has lived a very long life- what else is he supposed to do besides learn magic? It makes sense for him to dabble in a bit of everything, hence his moniker. Besides his spells, he'll mostly use one or two major skills. However, Harry does recognize that variety is strength, so he'll pick a skill that he can use to his full advantage. He'll use his spells for the more minor skirmishes, but he'll start using more complicated magic as his enemies get stronger. I'll go into this later, but he uses just enough of his power to defeat the enemy- not much more than that. As far as his magic… yes, he has a lot of magic- so much that it's easier for him to overload a spell than to control it. The size of his magical reserves will be explained later.

Anyways, this chapter was around 11-12k in words; I can't guarantee another update until summer break.


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